That's what I have with my Dad (92)when he and I want him discharged, the occupational therapists insist on going to his house to assess if he is still capable of living on his own or they will not discharge.

One of the assessments is can he still manage the stairs. I have never seen a 92 year old partially sighted guy go up stairs so quick, so they don't send him back to hospital or assess him as finally time to go in a residential home.

I'm not confident that would happen in Spain either.

Thinking back over the more recent replies on this thread, it must make for sad reading for prospective newcomers, and maybe it shouldn't.

We all arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed, full of extreme optimism for our new lives in the sun; if we had any doubts about serious medical factors facing us not too far away in the future, we wouldn't have come and stayed in safe old England.

You don't think of them, we are all healthy and are going to live forever. It's nice to know a bit of Spanish, but just to get by is sufficient unless we choose to live in an isolated inland village, and not many of us do.

And if it's all going to end badly, surely it's best to delay such awful discoveries for as long as possible?

I hope it doesn't make for too sad a read for prospective newcomers (if it does then i expect to get the blame so you will be alright).
More that it should be a reality check.
Over the past year we have had a number of posts from people already receiving full DLA and all the other alphagetti benefits who want to make the move to Spain. This in itself is fraught with potential problems with regard to loss of some of those benefits if not living in the UK.

As I said earlier (or in another thread), the BH and I have been adjusting the original house spec on a continual basis.
I suffered a so called minor knee injury 3 years ago and the BH suffered a fall last year. These things have made us realise (although we knew but wouldn't admit it) our ages. There can be no prospect of living off grid. There can be no element of self sufficiency, the goats the BH wanted will not be coming.
Added to that finding a house which turned out to be illegal where our inner self preservation stopped us from proceeding anyway.

Even a cold can be harder to get rid of, the little aches and pains take longer or stronger pain killers.

So In Summation.......
No, don't let it put you off from coming if you are young enough to have elderly parents who may need help. They really wouldn't want to have you put your life on hold just for them. Just remember to go home and see them occasionally. And don't forget that moving to Spain will cause a big hiccup for the kids in their education if you get the timing wrong.

If you are old enough to be close to or at retirement don't be put off - you may regret it, you will miss all those things you wanted to see but never got to. There are horror stories galore, in the same way as there are happy stories, happy memories for those who have lost a love one and stayed in the same way as there are for those who went home.

We only have one life as far as I know (if that is wrong I WILL come back and give you the details). Use it as you see fit, make the best of it. But do make sure you have an exit plan to either get out of the country or to get to somewhere where you can live with a reduced level of support.

hth
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Hopefully not. People have to live their lives as best they can and can only make their decisions based on what they know at that given point in time.

I have read that many people pass away peacefully in their sleep and it probably doesn't matter if that is in a bed in Spain or in the UK or anywhere else in the world. I think people who emigrate need to be realistic and realise that towards the end of their life they may not have an extended family or group of friends around them in the way they might have had if they stayed rooted for 70 or 80 years, but most know this anyway and still make the move.

It's just a matter of being mentally prepared for things, financially aware and putting what sensible arrangements in place you can, without actually becoming obsessional about it. They say the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but it can be better to live in the present and not be too focused on the future, or you cease to enjoy that present through worry.

With all due respect you are not in a heavily populated ex-pat area where there is a lot of competition, just for the record the prices I quoted the references stand up.

Try this for size, a retirement community with added zest!

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What excuse could there possibly be for not making the effort to learn the language. I met a couple recently who had been living in Spain for 18 years and they can't even do restaurant Spanish.

Pretty soon after arriving in Spain one works out that Spanish companies and services only go so far in accommodating non-Spanish speakers. Life just must be a bit awkward at times without any knowledge of the language.

I just don't understand why people don't learn to speak the language.

The real problem is age! Its well documented that as you get older it's certainly harder to learn a new language I speak Spanish, French and English but French I learnt in my 20's and Spanish in my 50's but I think I would have more problems learning Spanish if I had not already had fluent French

Agreed about age being a stumbling block.
I've tried many times to improve my Spanish but when it comes to the verbs I get a mental block. I can get by in bars, restaurants, shops etc but have to rehearse phrases if I need to go to the Doctors, garage etc.

Is it very well documented? I have seen it acknowledged that there is a difference between learning as a child vs. as an adult, but I don't see much to say there's a big difference between 40, 50, 60 and so on.

I'll just come out with it. I think most of them are just too idle to do it and don't consider it important enough to justify the effort.

There is some truth here and even more so since the impact of various negative factors have become apparent to future expats in Spain. Corruption and terrible injustices have screamed from the Spanish and expat newspapers in recent years and house prices have tumbled to less than half their value. In heavily populated expat areas, half of the expats went home last year, most of them after many years in Spain.

So the brave new settlers are renting instead of buying and are no longer planning too far ahead, so what would be the point in learning the language in depth? It's still the best destination for British expats in Europe, especially for reasonably wealthy and healthy pensioners and instead of learning the language for the next five years, who not study for that elusive degree from younger and busier times?

I think the type who'd tackle a degree are a different group than those who'd spend 20 years in a country without learning the language.

Friends of mine would fit into that category nicely. They know little more than 'no más' and una más at a the shops and still point at restaurant menus.

They have been there eight years. They have tried Spanish lessons but couldn't cope with the verb conjugations. Their view now is 'bollocks' if they need any help with officialdom they hire someone.

I'd tend to go along with that. It seems harder for the ear to catch and the brain to retain. Not just languages. The accents I could do when I was younger do not come so easily to me now.

I learnt French from age 7 and am still reasonable, given I now have no chance to speak it.

My husband however, has no ear for any language . That includes English , being dyslexic.

It was part of the consideration when I wanted us to move to France. He would have tried his hardest as ironically he loves use and sounds of words but really would have struggled.

Its not the size.